The Ning King's Mansion at night.
After returning from visiting Consort Jing in the imperial prison, the Ning King confined himself to his study.
Although he was deeply unwilling to relinquish his status, power, and wealth, as a son, he couldn't ignore his mother's life or death.
Even though he knew his mother had always viewed him merely as a tool for gaining power.
Thus, the Ning King remained shut in his study for an entire night, contemplating. The next day, with a face covered in stubble, looking utterly exhausted, and his eyes bloodshot, he slowly opened the study door and emerged.
His legs felt as if they were weighed down by two massive stones, each step as heavy as a thousand jin.
Just then, his personal guard, Ma Ji, rushed towards him from outside.
"Your Highness, something terrible has happened! News from the palace says Consort Jing committed suicide in the imperial prison."
Ma Ji, his personal guard, said with a face full of shock.
Upon hearing this, the Ning King almost collapsed to the ground. After a moment, he regained his footing, turned, and dashed towards the mansion gates, mounting his horse and racing towards the imperial prison.
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the Ning King arrived at the imperial prison. He saw his mother lying on the cold floor. Her expression at the moment of death was one of extreme agony. Her right hand was tightly clutched around a pair of chopsticks, which she had savagely plunged into her own neck. Blood stained the entire front of her garment.
Beside her lay a bowl of the thinnest rice congee, suggesting that his mother hadn't even consumed it.
However, in her left hand, she tightly grasped a piece of white cloth with writing on it.
Seeing the white cloth in Consort Jing's hand, the Ning King reached out to take it. But after trying for a long time to pry open Consort Jing's fingers, he couldn't retrieve the white cloth.
"Mother, please loosen your grip. It's Xiao'er! Is this white cloth meant for me?" the Ning King murmured to Consort Jing's corpse.
Yet, after the Ning King spoke these words, Consort Jing's left hand, which had been tightly gripping the white cloth, miraculously relaxed. The Ning King successfully retrieved the white cloth. With trembling hands, he slowly unfolded the blood-stained white cloth.
It bore a line of messy characters. The Ning King read it several times before he could barely decipher what it said. His mother did not want him to exchange his princely status, power, and wealth for her life, and that was why she chose to commit suicide.
After the Ning King understood what Consort Jing had written, his chest felt as if it were being crushed by a thousand-jin boulder, making it difficult for him to breathe.
Hot tears fell one by one, splattering onto the white cloth he held open. He bit down hard on his thin lips, and blood soon flowed slowly down his chin. Afterward, unable to bear it any longer, the Ning King let out a great cry of grief, tears streaming down his face. His weary face was filled with frenzied hatred and despair, bordering on collapse.
"Wuwuwu..."
"Mother, why were you so foolish! Your son told you last night that I would take you out of the imperial prison and the palace today, but why were you so heartless as to leave your son behind..."
Thus, the Ning King wept in the imperial prison for the entire morning. His actions spread, deeply touching countless people inside and outside the palace.
Even the Emperor did not continue to trouble him, allowing him to smoothly retrieve Consort Jing's body from the imperial prison.
The Imperial Study, within the palace.
The Emperor, who was busy reviewing memorials, suddenly put down his vermilion brush and looked at Eunuch Li, who stood beside him, asking, "The Ning King has retrieved Consort Jing's body from the imperial prison?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Eunuch Li replied respectfully.
"This Ning King is far superior to Prince Qing. Even if he is reluctant to part with his status, power, and wealth, at least in the face of Consort Jing's life, he still chose his mother's life. But that Prince Qing is greatly inferior in this regard. He knows that the Empress Dowager was severely injured and imprisoned in Fengqi Palace, yet he merely knelt outside the Imperial Study as a symbolic gesture, seeking a good reputation. After being carried back to Prince Qing's mansion, he ate, drank, and continued to amuse himself with women as usual... Hmph!" the Emperor critiqued mercilessly.
"Your Majesty, as the saying goes, dragons give birth to nine sons, and each son is different. Every prince surely has his own thoughts; you shouldn't worry too much."
Eunuch Li comforted him softly.
"Yes, you are right. Oh, in a while, go and summon the Cold King and his Consort to the palace. I have something to discuss with them."
At this moment, the Emperor abruptly changed the subject.
"Yes, Your Majesty. This old servant will go now."
Eunuch Li flicked his horsetail whisk, bowed to the Emperor, and slowly retreated from the Emperor's Imperial Study.
After Eunuch Li left, the Emperor lifted the pink gauze curtain on the wall of his Imperial Study, revealing a portrait of a peerlessly beautiful woman. This portrait depicted Zi Yi Yun, the mother of the Cold King.
Her appearance was extremely beautiful, with an oval face and delicate features. Beneath her willow-like brows were a pair of purple eyes that were different from ordinary ones. Although her gaze carried a hint of coldness, her eyes were incredibly clean, clear, and bright, without a trace of impurity.
She typically preferred to wear a pale purple, cinched waist, wide-sleeved dress, which exposed her slender and fair body, giving her a clean, refreshing, elegant, and dignified aura. A gentle breeze would lift her robes, making her appear ethereal and graceful, like a celestial being descended to earth.
This portrait was one he had personally painted for Yi Yun, under a ginkgo tree in the Purple Eye tribe, after she had saved him.
Later, he brought Yi Yun away from the Purple Eye tribe, and she took this portrait with her. However, many things happened afterward. Yi Yun escaped the capital, and the whereabouts of this portrait became unknown.
At first, he thought Yi Yun had taken the portrait with her. Unexpectedly, it was the Empress who had stolen Yi Yun's portrait. However, this time, he was truly grateful that the Empress had not destroyed Yi Yun's portrait, otherwise, he truly...
Alas...
Yi Yun, I truly wronged you back then; I shouldn't have deceived you into being by my side... and I even caused the deaths of you and the entire Purple Eye tribe...
As the Emperor thought, tears began to flow from his eyes. He reached out to touch the face in the portrait, but it was never the face of his beloved.
Subsequently, the Emperor stood before Zi Yi Yun's portrait, watching until the Cold King and his Consort entered the Imperial Study.
"You've arrived! Han'er, Li'er, both of you come and kowtow to your mother three times."
The Emperor, with his back to the Cold King and his Consort, said in a hoarse voice.
Leng Ruo Li glanced at the purple-eyed woman in the portrait on the wall and was slightly taken aback.
This woman's eyes and brows so closely resembled Jun Mo Han's. It was no wonder that Jun Mo Han's features were so handsome; he had inherited his mother's excellent genes.
"That is a portrait of my birth mother, Zi Yi Yun. You have married me, so she is now also your mother."
Jun Mo Han saw Leng Ruo Li continuously gazing at his mother's portrait and thought she was unwilling to kowtow to his mother, so he said these words to Leng Ruo Li.